Question
Hello Charlotte!

A few years ago when we moved from one house to another, we took the Stella Dora's that we had around our pool(sunlight all day).  We also had this nasty devil of a vine that would grow in with the stella's.  I thought that I had gotten it all in the move, but....there was one strand that I can't seem to eradicate.  I don't know what it is, but I would love to have this vine out of my stella's.  The issue is this...I have these stella on both side of my steps leading to my house, the vine has went under the steps..  Any advice/help would be appreciated.  


Also, we live in a townhome, and my neighbor has a fence, along that fence I've decide to plant a flower garden, and transplant some of the stella doras there.  Our soil is non existant(clay and rock) so I have started with 8 bags of pete moss, 8 bags cow manure, and 20 bags top soil(need atleast 20 more) I want it to be a bit of a mounded bed.  I will plant stella dora's, campanula, some spikey grasses, and a small tree.  The tree that I'm looking for is small 4-6ft, you see it alot as an accent on the edge of a house the trunk is about 3in and it is shaped like an umbrella with small pink/white flowers (do you know the name?)  Any suggestions on if I need to add anything to the flower bed would be appreciated.

Thanks for your time.
Deb

Thank you for your time.
Deb

Answer
Hi Deborah;
I am not familiar with Stells Doras, but unless they require a lot of acid, you will be in thouble with your soil micture.
That is WAY too much peat moss !!
Peat moss adds acid. That much cow manure, unless it is the sterilized, bagged kind, will probably burn them.
The bagged, sterilized cow manire has all the nutrients out of it, and is pretty innefective.
This is the mixture I use for landscaping soil for grass or plants.
4 bags Berk mulch (I prefer cedar because it repels inects such as termites, fleas and ticks)
2 bags humus
1 bag peat moss.
I mix this with one part mix and 1 part exisring soil. I have to deal with a very hard cly soil.I take out soil to a little more than the depth I want the good soil to be, mix up the bagged bark mulch, peat moss, and humus, and my soil, and fill in the trench.I would put a litle retainer wal up at least against the fence, to discourage grass from growing through to my flower bed. acier to keep it out than to try to trim it agyer it grows through. a retainer in front would help too, rains and watering will erode away your mounded bed, and a bed a little below the soil line, and with a retainer wall to keep the water from running off, will keep enough water on the soil to soak in to the roots. A mounded bed will cause the water to frain away, and possibly not provide enough water to the roots, for the plants to do well.
You can alo buy bagged Planter's Mix or Landscaper's Mix. Same thing, just called different names. You can mic this half and half with your existing soil.

As for that weed,,,,,,,,,,,
I have one like that ( or rather, used to have)it is a vine that looks something like a morning glory, and has a tiny white flower, that does not smell good, and if you try to pull the bine away, it is a tough to pull and break vine, and leaves a milky fluid on your hands that is sticky, turns brown immediately, and is very hard to wach off your hands.
It IS a weed, and weeds hate rich soil and love poor soil. They will not thrive in rich soil.
For now, to kill out that weed, and kill it down to the tap root,,,,,,,,
Get a small bottle of WipeOut, by Greenlight.
Walmart carries it, as well as most nurseries.
Cover the plants you DO NOT want killed or harmed, with plastic bags, or a plastic sheet.
You want that weed separated from other plants you don't want to kill, because WipeOut kills EVERYTHING with a broad leaf. It will absorb through the leaves stems or the ground.
This is how I used to get rid of that THING that would grow in among my climbing roses.
I covered the roses to protect them, got a good portion of the weed's leaves separated, and mixed 1 part WipeOut and 1 part water. I used a small paint brush, and painted the WipeOut on a good many of the leaves of the weed plant. The WipeOut will carry through the leaves, down to the tap root. In a few hours, the leaves you panted wil look sick, or dead, in a day or two, the rest of the weed vine will look sick or dead.
After you paint on the WipeOut, leave the protection on the good plant untill the wipeOut has dried. Don't paint enough for it to drip. just wet the leaves ( some of them) and stay on the leaf. You don't want it dripping onto the ground.
When it is dry ( 30 min to an hour) take the plasric off, so it won't heat uo and harm your plant.
I know this sounds SUPER cautious, I mean for it to.
A little, expecially in this concentrated form, will kill the undesirable weed. It is my own theory that ONE drop would kill my whole rose bush.
IO am too too protective of my roses bushes.
If the weed vine is still alive, or part of it is still alive after say, 3 or 4 dars, and does not look like that part of it is going to die, do the routine all over, and paint on the healthy looking weed leaves. There may be more than one source of the weed root, and a painting will only carry to the tap root the leaves you paint are coming from. Once the WipeOut gets to the tap root and kills it, it is DEAD, and will not come back, unless a root has started apaet from the one you kill. a frew paintings will kill the most stubborn weed.
Good luck
Chatlotte